Recent News

Congratulations to Dan Hellmuth, Principal at Hellmuth & Bicknese Architects, who was named as one of seven recipients of the 2013 Living Building Challenge™ Heroes Award. The award honors individuals who have “demonstrated exceptional commitment to the Living Building Challenge and whose work has helped to create an ecologically resilient and regenerative built environment.”

Dan Hellmuth was the lead architect on the Tyson Living Learning Center, which was one of the first two projects to become fully certified under the Living Building Challenge. The Tyson building includes Clivus composting toilet systems.

The International Living Building Institute features the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center in its latest issue of Trim Tab. The Brock Environmental Center is being built to meet the Living Building Challenge and Clivus is being used as the basis of design for the restrooms.

According to the Living Building Challenge website, it is “the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard. It calls for the creation of building projects at all scales that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture. To be certified under the Challenge, projects must meet a series of ambitious performance requirements, including net zero energy, waste and water, over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy.”

An article by Clivus Multrum’s very own Don Mills was recently published in Construction Digital. In the article, Mills describes the design, installation and function of the Clivus composting toilet system in New York City’s One World Trade Center (1 WTC), where five composting units, 10 Foam-flush toilets and 10 urinals were installed in shipping containers during the 2-3 year construction phase of the project, saving significant costs for the contractor. This is the first time that a construction project has utilized composting toilet systems instead of portable latrines.

Congratulations to Duke Farms, which will receive the 2012 Community Award from the NJ chapter of the US Green Building Council. According to the Messenger Gazette, the award recognizes Duke Farms’ success in converting “the 2,740-acre former Duke family estate in Hillsborough into an environmental education center and recreation destination that would be a model of environmental stewardship.” The green re-design focused on three elements: “the adaptive re-use and re-purposing of existing buildings, rather than building anew; the energy-efficient upgrading of 110-year-old utilities and the commitment to energy and water conservation; and the regeneration of landscapes to foster preservation of native species.”

Duke Farms purchased and installed three Clivus M54 Trailhead units within the last year in order to provide public restroom facilities. The mission of the farm is to teach visitors to “be good stewards of the environment” and the Clivus composting toilet systems were purchased because they fit with the organization’s mission and because the restrooms provide remote facilities.

21 Acres, a non-profit organization in Woodinville, WA, whose mission is to cultivate, demonstrate and advance systems that support sustainable agriculture, recently opened its brand new LEED Platinum-certified facility with Clivus composting toilet systems for public restroom access.

21 Acres provides educational programs and events, an indoor farmer’s market and access to a commercial kitchen. The retail Market opened for business on May 3, 2012.

Duke Farms, in Hillsborough, NJ, installed three Clivus M54 Trailhead units within the last year in order to provide public restroom facilities at the 2,740-acre estate. According to a recent New York Times article that features the farm, “the estate has 22 miles of trails winding past fountains, lagoons and sculptures; 810 acres of woodlands; and 464 acres of a grassland bird habitat” and is home to “30 endangered species and 230 varieties of birds.”

The farm will re-open to the public on May 19, 2012. The mission of the farm is to teach visitors to “be good stewards of the environment” and the Clivus composting toilet systems were purchased because they fit with the organization’s mission and because the restrooms provide remote facilities.

Clivus Multrum’s own Don Mills will present at the upcoming Living Future 2012 unConference, hosted by the International Living Future Institute. “Case Studies: Opportunities and Challenges as Projects Get Bigger, How Systems Thinking and Integrative Design help meet the Challenge,” will be presented by the design team from the Tyson Living Learning Center (one of the first two certified Living Buildings), including Don Mills, Dan Hellmuth (Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects, LLC), and Neil Myers of (Williams Creek Consulting). The presenters will discuss a Living Building Challenge design for a three-story dormitory at Berea College.

Crystal Springs Golf Course in Burlingame, CA, purchased two Clivus Trailhead restrooms in 2010 and Tim Powers, superintendent, was selected as the national public and overall contest winner in the GSAA/Golf Digest 2011 Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards.

The interview with Powers in the Feb. 2012 issue of Golf Course Management magazine describes his focus on the environment and highlights the Clivus compost restrooms. “What members may like best, according to Powers, are the two Clivus Multrum composting bathrooms. ‘They sure beat Port-O-Lets, and they are much more comfortable and user friendly,’ Powers says.”

The Presidio is a former military post that was transferred to the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California. The Presidio Trust manages 80% of the interior land of the park and the National Park Service manages the coastal areas. The Presidio Trust has rehabilitated the park’s historic buildings, restored open spaces, provided public programs, maintained utilities and infrastructure, and continues to fund the long-term needs of the park.

A two-stall Clivus Trailhead was purchased by the Trust in 2011 to provide restroom facilities for a trail near the El Polin spring, which is part of the Tennessee Hollow watershed. The trail, located within the park, provides recreation opportunities to both residents and visitors. The Clivus system was selected because it was cost-effective compared to extending the sewer and is in line with the Trust’s sustainability goals. The Clivus system will also prevent any pollution of the watershed.

Since 1973 Clivus Multrum has been the industry leader in composting toilets and greywater technologies. Composting toilets eliminate water from the waste stream and prevent the nutrients in human waste from becoming a source of pollution. Our waterless toilets and waterless urinals use no water at all. Our Foam-flush toilet is an ultra low flow toilet fixture that uses just six ounces of water per use. That’s a 97% water savings when compared with conventional 1.6 gallon per flush toilets. The M54 Trailhead is an ADA compliant pre fab or kit built stand alone restroom structure that comes in either a single stall or double stall with Clivus composting technology. The Trailhead is the natural solution for golf course and remote bathrooms. Clivus Multrum greywater systems (or graywater) recycle water from sinks, showers, dishwashers, and washing machines to irrigate plants. Many people consider composting toilets when looking for an alternative to conventional onsite waste treatment technologies. Satisfied Clivus customers include the National Park Service, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of New York, Green Builders, Parcs Canada, and state and local parks throughout North America and beyond.